Officials and businessmen close to Russian president Vladimir Putin have embezzled as much as $30 billion from funds allocated for next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, alleged opposition figures on Thursday, arguing that the most expensive construction projects went to “Putin’s friends” for inflated price tags, with contracts given without proper competition or public tenders.
More than half of the biggest U.S. tax breaks will benefit wealthier households significantly more than lower income ones, a new study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office revealed.
The 10 largest U.S. tax breaks will save taxpayers more than $900 billion this year, with a little more than half the benefits flowing to the richest 20 percent of households, congressional budget analysts said on Wednesday.
The European Commission slowed the pace of austerity on Wednesday by allowing six eurozone economies more time to meet its deficit targets. At the same time, the Commission warned that social safety nets were fraying and poverty was rising dangerously in many parts of Europe as efforts to combat unemployment fail to produce results.
The Cuban government is creating an additional 118 public Internet access points, but users must still pay $4.50 an hour to surf the web, in a country where the average monthly salary is just $20, reported the Associated Press.
Cyprus’s controversial bailout in late-March may have caused the level of private bank deposits in most eurozone nations to drop the following month, showed European Central Bank data on Wednesday, reflecting fears among savers in other countries, especially those whose banking sectors were already under stress, that their savings would also take Cyprus-style losses.
The International Monetary Fund has lowered the growth forecast for China for the second time in just six weeks, saying it expects growth to reach “around 7.75 percent” this year. The Washington-based institution also warned that Beijing needs to make a “decisive push” to launch new market-oriented reforms and raised concerns about a rapid expansion of credit in the world’s second largest economy.
Credit ratings agency Moody’s on Tuesday raised the U.S. banking sector outlook from negative to stable, a move that reflects continued improvement in the operating environment and reduced downside risks to banks from a faltering economy.
Moody’s is becoming more optimistic about U.S. lenders a year after it downgraded 15 banks in a review of the global financial system.
Kenyan lawmakers, already among the best paid in the world, voted on Tuesday to increase their current salaries by nearly 40 percent, overturning a pay cut ordered by the national salaries commission earlier this year, reported Reuters, and ignoring a presidential request to free up cash to create jobs.
Members of the top echelon of the Swiss government, known as the Federal Council, are reportedly considering a proposal from the U.S. to pay a multi-billion fine and disclose bank client names, in order to settle a long-running dispute over the handling of tax-evasion cases, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Germany and the United Kingdom are among at least 14 European Union members who are opposed to punitive tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports, undermining aggressive attempts by Brussels to pressure Beijing over alleged unfair trade practices.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has accused Chinese firms of selling solar panels below cost in Europe – a practice known as “dumping” – and plans to introduce provisional punitive duties, making it harder for China to advance its market share.
